Sarah Oliver Osteopathy

5 Top Tips: How to choose the best party shoes this Christmas

29th November, 2010 - Posted by Sarah - No Comments

This post is aimed mostly at the ladies in the audience, but all the advice can be applied to men’s shoes too!

The start of December signals the beginning of the party season.  That means a lot of standing, walking,  dancing and posing in your finest party outfits which tend to include very beautiful but totally ridiculous shoes.

We all want to look our best at Christmas time and I think most people are guilty of sacrificing comfort for style.  But it doesn’t have to be that way!

Lets have a look at the nasty things that can happen if you wear silly shoes:

• Bunions
• Cuts
• Blisters
• Ingrown toenails
• Broken toenails
• Sore, swollen feet
• Plantar fasciitis
• Shin splints
• Tight calves
• Low back pain
• Sprained ankles and other injuries due to trips and falls.

Lovely eh?  That last one with the purple nail polish is actually me…I try to avoid wearing flip flops on nights out now.

Luckily it is still possible to wear fancy shoes without causing a horrible injury.  Here are my top tips:

1. Wear well fitting shoes.  Sounds obvious, but squeezing yourself into a size too small will never turn out well.
2. Choose something as supportive as possible. Cute straps, arch support, laces, wedge heels – they all help to keep your feet happy.
3. Start training! Wearing heels changes your posture and your gait, putting pressure through different areas of your feet and using different muscles to keep you standing and walking.  This is one of the reasons your feet and legs start hurting.  So ease yourself into it.  Start wearing your lowest, comfiest heels for a quick trip to the shops and build up from there.  By New Years Eve there’ll be no stopping you!
4. Take a break. Your night will last longer if you take a couple of breaks.  Have a sit down and enjoy a cocktail while you rest your feet.
5. Prepare for emergencies. Keep a couple of cab numbers with you, and a pair of flats in your bag (way better than roaming the streets of London barefoot).  If you are in London, texting Text CAB to 60835 will get you 2 local cab numbers and the black cab number sent to you.

Here is just a small selection of potential choices:

Sarah’s Christmas Shoes by Ghostontoast featuring kg shoes

Merry Christmas!